Ship salvaging system and method



United States Patent Inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee Willard Fascom Washington, District of Columbia688,543

Dec. 6, 1967 Nov. 10, 1970 Ocean Science & Engineering, Inc. Washington,District of Columbia I a corporation of Delaware SHIP SALVAGING SYSTEMAND METHOD 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S.Cl

lnt.Cl

[50] Field ofSearch .4 l14/55,67; l72/755699,40,37

[56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 160,459 12/1921 Great Britain114/67 Primary Examiner-Andrew H. Farrell Attorney-Robillard and ByrneABSTRACT: A system and method of reducing the forces resisting motionbetween water saturated or wet earthy material and body partiallyembedded therein by creating a layer of bubbles formed by electrolyticdecomposition of water between their contacting surfaces.

Patented-Nov.10,197 0 3,538,876

FIG. 2

, INVENVTOR WILLARD BASGOM MW A77 R/VEYS SHIP SALVAGING SYSTEM ANDMETHOD In the retrieval of objects at the bottom of the ocean orotherwise stuck in a waterlogged substance, it is not always the weightof the object which causes difficulty in making a retrieval, but rather,it is oftentimes the suction" which develops between the sediment orother materials at the bottom of the ocean and the object which embedsitself therein. A force many times greater than the actual forcenecessary to lift the body is required to break this suction, orresistive force. it is a principal object of this invention to provide ameans wherein this suction is substantially lessened by creating a layerof bubbles between the surface of the object and the material in whichit is embedded.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a means by which theforces developed between the bottom surface of the ocean and an objectto be retrieved therefrom are reduced by establishing electrical fieldsof different polarity within the sea water and the object to therebycause the formation of bubbles on the exterior surface of the object.

Yet another objective of this invention resides in the provision of anovel method for retrieving a vessel wherein the work which must beperformed by divers and/or material removing apparatus is substantiallyreduced.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description when viewed in light of theaccompanying drawing wherein the like elements throughout the figuresthereof are indicated by like numerals and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing operation;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing a second embodiment of theinvention; and

H6. 3 is an enlarged view of an iron-magnesium pellet of the type usedin the FIG. 2 system.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements indicate like parts,the numeral generally indicates a heavy object which is embedded in thebottom surface 12 of a body of water 14. when vessels or other objectsbecome stuck in this manner, forces many times greater than the weightof the object are necessary to break the contact between surface 12 andthe vessel. For lack of better terms, this force will be referred to asa suction" or resistive force.

This force is proportional to the area of contact between the vessel andthe material in which it is embedded. The general concept of thisinvention is in providing a method whereby this contacting area issubstantially reduced without moving the object. This reduction isaccomplished by forming a great many bubbles along the surface of theobject. in FIG. 1, the object 10 is embedded at the bottom of a body ofwater. It should be understood, however, that the methods of the presentinvention have equal applicability for removing barges, vessels or otherobjects which are grounded in mud flats or other shore areas.

In a first method, a source of electricity 16 is positioned near theembedded object by a floating vessel 18. A first electrical cable 20leading from the positive polarity of the generator is affixed to thehull of the object at a plurality of points. This effectively turns theobject 10 into an electrode (cathode). A second electrical cable 22 isconnected to the opposing or negativepolarity of the generator andsuspends a second electrode 24 (anode) adjacent to the object 10. Thesea water 14 acts as an electrolyte and an electrical current flowsbetween the electrodes. Due to an electrochemical phenomenon known aselectrolysis, a multitude of hydrogen bubbles will form on the surfaceofthe positive electrode (object) l0 and consequently there is areduction in the suction or static friction between it and the embeddingmaterial. Although some of these bubbles will rise to the surface andescape into the atmosphere, others will remain. The hydrogen tends toproduce aneffect known as polarization, which increases the effectiveelectrical resistance in the system which reduces current requirement.The polarization also causes the bubbles to become increasinglyuniformly distributed and they thus form on all external wetted surfacesof the object, em-

bedded or otherwise.

When a substantial number of bubbles have been developed, as determinedby standard ohmmeter, wattmeter, and voltmeter devices, conventionallifting-type devices, here indicated by a'winch and cable mechanism 26,are utilized.

in the above-described method, current is developed from a transportablegenerator such as that housed on vessel 18.

In FIG. 2 there is shown a second method of forming bubbles. Ahigh-pressure hose 30 driven by remote pumps or compressors is broughtto the vicinity of the object 10 by a diver 32. The diver moves aboutthe object and injects a stream of small pellets of magnesium and ironbetween the object and the embedding material. The surrounding wateractivates these pellets forming a great many hydrogen bubbles in thesediments beneath the object. Many of those pellets that are depositedin contact with the object, so that bubbles will form directly adjacentto and beneath the object as in the first method. Again, aftersufficient bubbles are formed the suctional force between the mud andthe object will be broken and, conventional retrieval methods areutilized.

Of the two methods described, the former can be termed as electrical andthe latter as electrochemical. The former is restricted to metallicobjects, but the latter is not so restricted. However, both have astheir common purpose the forming of bubbles beneath an embedded objectfor the purpose of diminishing resistive forces.

From the above it can be seen that there has been described a method offacilitating the lift ofa ship or any object which is to be retrievedfrom the bottom of the ocean by reducing the suction or resistive forcesbetween the object and the cmbedding material to a point whereconventional retrieval and salvaging methods .can be used.

In a general manner, while there has been disclosed effective andefficient embodiments of the invention, it should be well understoodthat the invention is not limited to such embodiments, as there might bevariations in the circumstances and the exact steps described withoutdeparting from the principle of the present invention as comprehendedwithin the scope of the accompanying claims.

lclaim:

1. A method of extracting an object from a water-saturated sediment inwhich the object is at least partially embedded comprising the steps ofcreating a force on said object tending to move said object from thatportion of the sediment in which it is embedded, and forming bubbles onthe portion of the surface of said object adjacent said sediment forreducing suctio forces between the object and the sediment.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein said bubbles on the surface ofsaid object are formed by the steps of attaching one pole of a generatorto said object whereby said object becomes an electrode of a firstpolarity, suspending an elec trode of opposing polarity of saidgenerator near said object, whereby the resulting flow of electricalcurrent will form bubbles from the electrolytic decomposition of wateron said surface portion of said object.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said object is submerged and saidgenerator is floated to a position over said object.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,538,875 Dated November 10, 1970 Inventofls) Willard Bascom It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

The inventor's name in the above-identified patent was misspelled uponprinting the patent. Therefore, the name of the inventor as it appearson the patent should be changed from Willard "Eascom" to Willard"gascom" Signed and sealed this 1st day of June 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SGHUYLER, J'E Attesting OfficerCommissioner of Patent:

